Bottle capping machine



March 6, 1934. I FRANZEN r AL 1,949,960

BOTTLE CAPPING MACHINE Filed Dec. 6, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet l ATTORNEY March 6, 1934. 5 T, FRANZEN r AL 1,949,960

I BOTTLE CAPPING MACHINE Filed Dec. 6, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Mar. 6, 1934 l fidhfih fi BOTTLE CAPPING MACHINE Eric T. Franzen, Maplcwood Township, Essex County, and Arthur J. Weiss, West Orange, N. J assignors to Franklin-Williams, Inc, Orange, N. J. a corporation of New Jersey Application December 6, 1932, Serial No. 645,912 Claims. (01. 226-881) This invention relates to bottle capping ma- Fig. is an end view of a cap carrying arm chines, and more particularly to improvements showing the use of an electromagnet instead of which enable a cap to be positively held during the a permanent magnet. capping operations, and for speeding the opera- Referring to the drawings, in Fig. l is shown a 5 tions of said machines. conveyor 11 which feeds bottles 12 into notches In capping machines of a well known type, the 13 in a plate 14 attached to the shaft 15 which bottles to be capped are placed on a conveyor is rotated and periodically stopped to place one belt and automatically diverted into a position of the bottles beneath a capholder (not shown) to receive a cap. The caps are usually fed through as is common and well known in machines of this 10 a chute onto an oscillating arm, which moves from type.

the chute to a position beneath a capholder and Attached to a shaft 16 is a cap carrying arm. 17 abovethe bottle to be capped. At the latter posiwhich is periodically oscillated from a position tion the cap is picked up by the capholder and below a cap conveying chute 18 shown in seethen forced into position on the bottle. tion to a position below a cap, and above a hot- 15 These machines, heretofore, have been objectle, (see dotted lines in Fig. 1). m tionable in that the caps often fall off of the arm Referring to Fig. 3, the arm 17 is shown to have during its movement from the chute to the capon its upper surface a button 19 of slightly less holder. Obviously, the frequent dislodgment of diameter than the cap to be carried, and to the the caps on the arm seriously impedes and slows undersurface of the arm is attached a perma- 20 up the operation of the machine. nent magnet 20, the arm 17 being made of brass, 7

It is therefore, n Object of this invention to or a similar non-magnetic material. Referring provide, in a bottle capping machine, an arm havto Fig. 6, it will be seen that initially the lowering means thereon for positively holding a can most cap 21 in the chute 18 is positioned to one until i has been p p removed y e Bapside of the button 19. As the arm 1'? is moved 25 holder. in a counter-clockwise direction (see Figs. 1, 7) 89 A further Object of the nv i n is t e plO- a weighted dog 22 pivotally mounted on the back vision of an arm in a bottle ppi m chine wall of the chute l8 bears against the cap 21 to h vi magnetic m a f p itiv ly h ldin caps tilt the cap to the position shown Fig. 8, at thereon. which time the force of the magnet 20 snaps the A furt e O je is the provision 0f magnetic cap into the position shown in Fig. 9, where it means for positively holding a cap on an arm of will be positively held until removed by the a bottle capping machine, the magnetic means capholder 1; shown) being p ri i lly n rsi d a a pred ter- Fixed to a rod 23, which is plVOfia-HY mounted mi d point o na le he ap to b easily removed in bearings 24 attached to the side of the chute 35 from the arm. 18, is a plate 25, the free end of which is connect- These a d th ts w i h wi l lat r app a ed to a tension spring as, the latter being attached re c mpli h d y h impl n pr ti l nto a bracket 27 mounted also on the chute 18. struction and arrangement of parts hereinafter The lower end f t rod 2 has a right described and the accompanying gula r bent portion engages the button 40 drawings, forming part hereof, and in which: 19 on the Side opposite to the cap 21, see Fig 1 is a plan View of a Section of a bottle 1, when the arm 17 is in the position shown in capping machineembodying our invention Figs. 1 and 6. The pressure of the button on is a similar View embodying another form the bent portion 28 causes rotation of the plate of 9 niventlon n g 25 in a counterclockwise direction (see Fig. 1) 4o F 3 1S perspelculve 0* the end cap against the action of the tension spring 26. A 51 0 Calrymg am having a permanent magnet the cap 21 is being tilted by the dog 22, the arm c h hereto, g g is a bottom View of the arm Shown in 1'7 is being moved counterclockwise as above ex- F 1 and 3 plained and the force on the bent portion 28 grad- D 50 Fig. 5 is an elevational view of a cap conveyin uany decrfiasesi Whlch allows p1ate 25 to Chute and t ap carrying arm, pulled against the face of the cap conveying chute Figs 7, 8 d 9 are end views of t arm 18; and a pin 29 on the plate 25 enters the next and cap conveying chute, showing the various adjacent cap 30 and holds the latter in a raised positions assumed by the parts during the operaout-of-the-way position Until the cap 21 has 55 tion of depositing a cap on the arm, and, been properly seated on the arm 17 and until the arm 17 again returns to the position as shown in Figs. 1 and 6.

In Fig. 2, the arm 17 is provided on its underside with an electromagnet which is energized to hold the cap on the button 19 until the arm is beneath the capholder, at which time the electric circuit through the electromagnet is broken to enable the cap to be easily removed from the arm.

As shown in Fig. 2, the arm 17 is provided with a brush 31 which engages an arcuate contact strip 32, the latter being connected to one terminal of a source of current, while the brush 31 is connected to the solenoid 33 of an electromagnet, which in turn is connected to the other terminal of a source of current. As will be seen, when the brush 31 disengages the contact strip 32, the circuit will be broken through the solenoid 33 and the electroinagnet will be deenergized so that no resistance will be offered to the removal of a cap from the button 19.

In Fig. 10 is shown an arm 1'7 having mounted on its underside an electromagnet 34, the solenoid of which is permanently connected to the terminals of the source of electric current. In the form shown in Fig. 10, and the form shown in Fig. 3, it is necessary to remove the cap against the forces exerted by the magnets.

From the above description it will be seen that there has been provided a simple and effective device for positively holding caps in position on an arm during the operation of conveying the cap from a chute to the position where it is to be placed on a bottle. Our device obviously will enable the speed of operation of a capping machine to be increased, and in actual practice we have obtained an increase of 50% by means of our device.

The foregoing disclosure is to be regarded as descriptive and illustrative only, and not as restrictive or limitative of the invention, of which obviously an embodiment may be constructed including many modifications without departing from the general scope herein indicated and denoted in the appended claims.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In a bottle capping machine, a cap carrying arm having a cap receiving button on its upper side of less diameter than the cap to be car ried, and a magnet mounted on the underside of the arm, said arm being made of a non-magnetic material.

2. In a bottle capping machine, a cap carrying arm of non-magnetic material, cap receiving means on the upper side of the arm to receive a cap, and magnetic means carried by said arm to hold a cap in position on the arm.

3. In a bottle capping machine, a cap carrying arm, a button on the upper side of the arm to receive a cap, said button being of less diameter than the cap to be carried, and magnetic means carried by said arm to hold a cap in position on the button.

4. In a bottle capping machine, an oscillatable cap-carrying arm made of non-magnetic material, and having a cap-receiving button on its upper surface, a cap conveying chute, means carried by said chute and cooperating with the moving arm to partially position a cap on said button, and a magnet mounted on the arm to positively position a cap on the button and to prevent dislodgment of the cap during movement of said arm.

5. In a bottle capping machine, a cap carrying arm, cap receiving means on the upper side of the arm to receive a cap, and magnetic means carried by said arm to hold a cap in position on the arm.

ERIC T. FRANZEN. ARTHUR J. WEISS. 

